Targeting Edwards' Message By: Mark W Adams

For anyone who is second guessing John Edwards' ability to raise cash as the "real" reason he opted for public funds, digest this little factoid: notwithstanding his ability to write a check to fund his campaign, he raised a Million Bucks -- Online -- IN ELEVEN DAYS!

Edwards isn't done introducing new policy ideas or finding unique ways of getting his message out either. His Letter to the Editor of the Sioux City Iowa Journal about his anti-terror strategy is just the latest example. How can anyone not love a guy who comes right out and calls Bush's foreign policy "arrogant and inept" His comprehensive proposal relies on "strength and cooperation":

• A new multilateral organization called the Counterterrorism and Intelligence Treaty Organization (CITO) -- a NATO for terrorism.
• Improving human intelligence through 1,000 new annual scholarships to improve language skills for students who pursue careers in intelligence and diplomacy.
• Bolster support for foreign counterterrorism.
  
• Create a Global Nuclear Compact to strengthen the Non-Proliferation Treaty.
• Leading an international effort to rid the world of nuclear weapons.
  

No surprise that Edwards ties all this into the overall theme of his entire candidacy, fighting the root causes of terrorism, the inequities and disaffection that radicalizes and recruits extremists -- eliminating poverty.

Honestly, if the world were a more prosperous place, we all prosper. It's that simple people. Here's what he says about his global anti-poverty initiative:

My plan includes increasing our funding for global primary education, expanding microfinance programs, ramping up our support for sanitation and preventive health care in developing nations, and promoting constitutional democracies and the rule of law across the developing world. I will also establish a “Marshall Corps,” patterned after the military reserves, that will include at least 10,000 civilian experts who will be deployed abroad to serve on reconstruction, stabilization, and humanitarian missions.

Grand vision for a troubled world.

Out in Blogtopia, there's quite a bit of wonkishness both on Edwards' campaign strategy and some specific policy analysis that's a refreshing change of pace from the latest fad of the punditry which is busy dissecting Hillary's laugh, defending O'Reilly and Limbaugh's stupidity,

When someone like Chris Bowers provides free services as a media consultant to John Edwards, does that count as a like-kind contribution, or is it just bloviating? To tell the truth, a massive cable TV buy might be cost efficient versus traditional broadcast outlets, and changing the game is always welcome. I think it all depends on just how saturated cable television is in Iowa. I'd need to see some numbers before I'd advise anyone on where to buy ads.

Slate Magazine also offers some unsolicited advice and reports that suggestions John Edwards campaign is doomed are premature, to say the least. (Psst. They already filled the position of media guy, thanks. I'm sure they appreciate the input though.)

In fact, media strategy is impressive. The campaign has parted ways with Marius Penczner, their media consultant -- Last Month. Since there wasn't even a ripple about this in the media, and this was the guy whose job was to help with media relations, I'm guessing the transition was pretty smooth.

Penczner joined the Edwards team in the final stages of the 2004 primary fight, replacing David Axelrod (yes, the same David Axelrod who is now Obama's lead media consultant) and stayed on with Edwards through to this campaign.

Oh, and which part of the Washington Post got this story? The blog, of course. Score another one for the good guys.

Over at TPM Cafe, they're impressed with Edwards' "aggressive" Education Plan.

It focuses on three themes- creating universal preschool, building teacher quality, and reforming No Child Left Behind. He adds this to a series of comprehensive plans for upgrading the social safety net.

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Among other things, Edwards suggest piloting his preschool proposal in impoverished communities and providing incentives for teachers to work in struggling schools. Edwards plan, though likely not politically popular, reflects a real desire to improve the education system. On a side note, it is refreshing to see a candidate commit a comprehensive promise to overhaul No Child Left Behind to paper.

Edwards himself has been know to write a thing or two at TPM Cafe, his "Table For One" blog entries go back to May of 2005, just in case you wanted to read about his consistency on the anti-poverty theme.

Today at TPM, you can read about what a quandary choosing a candidate to endorse can be for the SEIU. Has the Service Employee Union forsaken the role of shaping the campaign for the sake of "picking a winner?" Not following their heart, and endorsing John Edwards which the majority of their membership supports, abdicates their responsibility to make the world a better place for union employees in my opinion, regulating them to the status of a mere lobbyist group.

Elizabeth Edwards is treated like a "rock star" by these folks. Who else to you know managed to walk the picket lines when GM went on strike? I remember a day when unions were the power-brokers. A non-endorsement, or endorsing someone other than who the membership believes in, makes them just that more irrelevant. Another victory for the corporatist who run the Republican Party.

Meanwhile, Edwards has a great idea on cutting down on frivolous law suits too, requiring a Certificate of Merit before filing a medical malpractice case. "[H]e told a Families USA/Federation of American Hospitals/Kaiser Family Foundation gathering last month that he would require lawyers to obtain not one but two expert opinions before suing."

Media Matters, taking a break from it's ongoing war with Bill-O and Rush, notes that NBC is full of itself when Tim Russert and David Gregory imply that Edwards, Clinton and Obama have changed their tunes and are inconsistent on how they would handle withdrawing from Iraq while leaving some kind of residual force in theater.

Gregory wants us to believe that the three "top tier" Democratic candidates just recently came to the realization that we won't be able to get complete, 100% out of Iraq anytime soon, saying to Russert, "Edwards, Edwards particularly, who was embracing the left wing of the party's view that you have to end the war now, and the others even voting for cutting off funding. I think it's a realization, though, that they're going to take a more centrist position and say to the left wing of their party, "We've got to be pragmatic about this. We can't lose a general election because of your feelings about the war."

It's amazing how preconceived notions of a candidate's position becomes fact for these clowns even when the candidates themselves spell it out for them. My advice to the D.C. establishment, try reporting on actual events instead of getting your news from Matt Drudge.

Edwards has also previously stated that he would not withdraw all troops from Iraq as president. In a May 23 speech to the Council on Foreign Relations, Edwards asserted that he would preserve "some presence in Baghdad" in order to "protect the American Embassy and other personnel." From the speech:

EDWARDS: My plan calls on Congress to use its funding power to stop the surge and force an immediate withdrawal of 40,000 to 50,000 combat troops from Iraq, followed by an orderly and complete withdrawal of all combat troops in about a year.

[...]

EDWARDS: I believe that once we are out of Iraq, the U.S. must retain sufficient forces in the region to prevent a genocide, deter a regional spillover of the civil war, and prevent an Al Qaeda safe haven. We will most likely need to retain Quick Reaction Forces in Kuwait and in the Persian Gulf. We will also need some presence in Baghdad, inside the Green Zone, to protect the American Embassy and other personnel. Finally, we will need a diplomatic offensive to engage the rest of the world in Iraq's future -- including Middle Eastern nations and our allies in Europe.

This is a marathon folks, and we've still got a long way to go before the first vote is cast. No one ever thought it was going to be easy for Edwards, or anyone to get the nomination. If it were that simple, the media would have made good on their attempt to coronate Hillary Clinton back in January. This is a new era with a new media where elite journalists and big money no long can dictate our future -- and I'm glad to be a part of it all.